September 18th: The Biggest Music Headlines

Scroll down the page to see all the music headlines, stories and events for September 18 throughout music history

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Music Fans Mourn The Death Of Jimi Hendrix

On September 18, 1970, Jimi Hendrix died tragically at London’s Samarkand Hotel. While the 27-year-old had only been in the spotlight for just four years, his imprint on rock music was mighty. His virtuosic guitar technique would inspire countless musicians, while his hits with The Jimi Hendrix Experience (including “Purple Haze,” “Hey Joe,” and “The Wind Cries Mary,”) continue to endure. A week before his death, Hendrix gave his final interview in his suite at the Cumberland Hotel in London, where he discussed a number of topics with Keith Altham, a journalist for Record Mirror. The duo dove into his thoughts on psychedelic music, his role as a guitar hero, and more, capturing Hendrix’s state of mind shortly before the end of his life.

In 1971, The Who scored their first and only UK No.1 album with Who’s Next. Released in August, the project emerged from the ashes of a scrapped rock opera, Lifehouse, which was slated to be the multimedia follow-up to 1969’s Tommy. Nevertheless, the album went on to become a critical darling and be considered one of The Who’s greatest LPs.

In 1993, Meat Loaf’s hard rock epic Bat Out Of Hell II reached No.1 on the UK album chart, a feat he would repeat five more times over the course of his career. The album was released sixteen years after the artist’s first solo album, Bat Out of Hell.

In 2014, Taylor Swift landed at the top of the US singles chart once again, thanks to the success of her hit, “Shake It Off.” The song was the lead single from 1989, which Swift marketed as her first pop album.

In 1983, KISS took to MTV to appear in public without their iconic makeup for the first time. While the hard rockers pulled off the stunt to promote their new album, Lick It Up, it also tripled the sales of their previous LP, Creatures of the Night.

In 1968, The Beatles recorded 20 takes of “Birthday.” The session had the band recruiting a number of friends and family: Roadie Mal Evans added handclaps, while Yoko Ono and Patti Harrison contributed backing vocals on the track.

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BORN ON SEPTEMBER 18:

1939: Frankie Avalon
1950: Michael Hossack (The Doobie Brothers)
1952: Dee Dee Ramone
1962: Joanne Catherall (The Human League)
1967: Ricky Bell (New Edition, Bell Biv DeVoe)
1988: Lukas Forchhammer (Lukas Graham)

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Keep scrolling for all of our September 18 birthdays.

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September 18th

On this day in music

18 Sep 2024 American blues, rock and folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist Nick Gravenites died at the age of 85. He is best known for his work with Electric Flag (as their lead singer), Janis Joplin and Mike Bloomfield. He wrote several songs for Joplin, including 'Work Me, Lord' produced the pop hit 'One Toke Over the Line' for Brewer & Shipley and the album Right Place, Wrong Time for Otis Rush, for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award.
18 Sep 2024 Australian bass guitarist Dick Diamonde died at the age of 76. He was a member of The Easybeats who are widely regarded as Australia's greatest pop group of the mid-1960s. They scored the 1966 Australian No.1, UK No.6 and 1967 US No.16 single 'Friday On My Mind', which was the first Australian rock song to achieve international success. Their concerts and public appearances were regularly marked by intense fan hysteria similar to "Beatlemania", soon dubbed "Easyfever" by the Australian press.
18 Sep 2023 Marilyn Manson was sentenced in New Hampshire for blowing his nose and spitting on a camerawoman. The musician would serve 20 hours of community service and pay around $1,400 (£1,100) in fines. According to a police report, Manson spat on the woman on 19 August 2019 as she filmed his performance at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford. In a statement read in court, Ms Fountain said, "For him to spit on me and blow his nose on me was the most disgusting thing a human being has ever done."
18 Sep 2020 Pamela Hutchinson from the American soul/R&B vocal group The Emotions died at the age of 61. The Emotions scored the 1977 US No. 1 hit 'Best of My Love'.
18 Sep 2019 A Chinese study called for a publicity programme that could enhance public awareness of the negative impact of listening to fast music when driving. The study claimed that drivers should keep music below 120 beats per minute saying that a track like ’American Idiot’ by Green Day - at 189 beats per minute - was a dangerous song to listen to when driving and Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin was a safe song at 63 beats per minute.
18 Sep 2014 American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift was at no.1 on the US singles chart with 'Shake It Off', becoming Swift's second No.1 single in the United States and the 22nd song to debut at No.1 in the chart's history.
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18 Sep 2012 In a survey of more than 160,000 readers, British music magazine NME named John Lennon as Rock's ultimate icon. Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher was placed second, followed by David Bowie, Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner and late Nirvana icon Kurt Cobain.
18 Sep 2009 Leonard Cohen collapsed on stage during a concert in Valencia in Spain and was taken to hospital. He was later discharged after doctors told him he had food poisoning. Cohen was in the middle of singing his song 'Bird On The Wire' when he fainted, prompting the band to stop playing and rush to help him.
18 Sep 2007 Britney Spears was dropped by her management company, one month after employing their services.Los Angeles-based The Firm said: "We have terminated our professional relationship with Britney Spears. "We believe she is enormously talented, but current circumstances have prevented us from properly doing our job."
18 Sep 2006 73 year old country singer Willie Nelson and four members from his band were charged with drug possession after marijuana and magic mushrooms were found by police on his tour bus. Police had stopped the tour bus near Lafayette, Louisiana.
18 Sep 2006 Echo And The Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch was convicted of committing a breach of the peace by shouting, swearing and threatening Gary Duncan and his girlfriend Juliet Sebley backstage at Glasgow Barrowlands in Scotland. A court was told that McCulloch had lost his temper when he discovered the two fans in a toilet cubicle inside his private dressing room.
18 Sep 2006 Sir Cliff Richard unveiled a plaque to mark a tiny basement said to be the birthplace of British rock and roll, fifty years after the "2 i's" coffee bar opened in London's Old Compton Street. The Tornados, Tommy Steele, The Shadows and Adam Faith were among stars who started out at the club.
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18 Sep 2004 Britney Spears married dancer Kevin Federline during a private ceremony in Los Angeles. Federline had two daughters from his previous relationship with actress Shar Jackson.
18 Sep 1996 At Sotheby's in London, Julian Lennon successfully bid just over $39,000 (£21,000), for the recording notes for the song Paul McCartney wrote for him, ‘Hey Jude’. At the same event, John Lennon's scribbled lyrics to 'Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite' sold for $103,500, (£57,500).
18 Sep 1993 Meat Loaf went to No.1 on the UK album chart for the first of five times with Bat Out Of Hell II.
18 Sep 1993 Garth Brooks went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'In Pieces'. The album spent 25 weeks on the chart and sold over 6m copies. The album peaked at No.2 on the UK chart.
18 Sep 1991 Rob Tyner lead singer with the American hard rock band MC5 died after he suffered a heart attack in the seat of his parked car in his hometown of Berkley, Michigan. MC5, (shortened from the Motor City Five), formed in Detroit, in 1965, they released their first album, ‘Kick Out the Jams’ in 1969.
18 Sep 1983 Kiss appeared without their 'make-up' for the first time during an interview on MTV promoting the release of their newest album, Lick It Up.
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18 Sep 1982 The seven-minute epic by Dire Straits 'Private Investigations' went to No.2 on the UK singles chart, held off No.1 by survivors 'Eye Of The Tiger'.
18 Sep 1981 Gary Numan took off on a round the world trip in a single engine Cessna plane. The attempt ended after he was forced to land in India, where local police arrested him.
18 Sep 1979 The Eagles released 'Heartache Tonight' from their album The Long Run. The song originated from an jam session between Glenn Frey and J. D. Souther who would visit Frey's home in Los Angeles whenever he was in town on tour. Frey and Souther wrote the first verse while listening to Sam Cooke songs. In the heat of jamming, Frey called Bob Seger on the phone and sang him the verse. Seger then blurted out the chorus.
18 Sep 1976 One Hit Wonders Wild Cherry started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Play That Funky Music'. The song started life as a B-side. It was the group's only hit in the UK which peaked at No.7.
18 Sep 1971 The Who scored their first and only UK No.1 album with Who’s Next the bands sixth LP release, featuring 'Won't Get Fooled Again'. Cover artwork shows a photograph, taken at Easington Colliery, of the band apparently having just urinated on a large concrete piling. According to photographer Ethan Russell, most of the members were unable to urinate, so rainwater was tipped from an empty film canister to achieve the desired effect.
18 Sep 1970 Jimi Hendrix was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Mary Abbot's Hospital in London at the age of 27 after choking on his own vomit. Hendrix left the message 'I need help bad man', on his managers answer phone earlier that night. Rumors and conspiracy theories grew up around Hendrix’s death. Eric Burdon claimed Jimi had committed suicide, but that’s contradicted by reports that he was in a good frame of mind. In 2009, a former Animals roadie published a book claiming that Jimi’s manager had admitted to him that he arranged the murder of Hendrix, since the guitarist wanted out of his contract.
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18 Sep 1968 Working at Abbey Road studios on new songs for their forthcoming album, The Beatles recorded 20 takes of ‘Birthday.’ Roadie Mal Evans added handclaps, and Yoko Ono and Pattie Harrison contributed backing vocals on the track.

Born on this day in music

18 Sep 1992 Japanese singer Joji (George Miller). His 2022 single 'Glimpse of Us' from his third studio album Smithereens became the second song by a Japanese artist to reach the top 10 on the US chart after Kyu Sakamoto's 'Sukiyaki' in 1963.
18 Sep 1988 Danish-Irish singer, songwriter Lukas Forchhammer, the lead vocalist for the Danish band Lukas Graham who had the 2016 hit '7 Years' which topped the charts in Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK and Canada.
18 Sep 1967 American singer Ricky Bell, from American R&B group New Edition who had the 1983 UK No.1 single 'Candy Girl', and Bell Biv DeVoe who had the 1990 US No.3 single 'Do Me!'.
18 Sep 1966 Ian Spice, drummer from English pop band Breathe who had the 1988 UK No.4 and US No.2 single 'Hands To Heaven'.
18 Sep 1966 Nigel Clarke from English power pop rock trio Dodgy. The band rose to prominence during the Britpop era of the 1990s and had the 1996 UK No.4 single 'Good Enough', which was featured on the soundtrack to the 1998 movie Sliding Doors.
18 Sep 1966 Mike Heaton, drummer, for the alternative rock band Embrace. The band's highest-charting single is 'Nature's Law', which reached No.2 on the UK Singles Chart in 2006. The albums This New Day, Out of Nothing and The Good Will Out all reached No.1 on the UK Albums Chart.
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18 Sep 1962 Joanne Catherall, singer with The Human League. Formed in Sheffield, England in 1977 the group attained widespread commercial success with their third album Dare in 1981. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US No.1 hit 'Don't You Want Me'.
18 Sep 1962 Richard Walmsley, from English electronic group Beatmasters, who had the 1988 UK No.5 single 'Rock Da House'. The Beatmasters went on to produce and remix records for other artists, including Pet Shop Boys, Erasure and Marc Almond.
18 Sep 1961 Martin Beedle, drummer, with English rock band Cutting Crew, who scored the 1987 US No.1 & 1986 UK No.4 single 'I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight'.
18 Sep 1952 Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin), bassist, Ramones, 1977 UK No.22 single 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker'). He died of a drug overdose 5th June 2002. Dee Dee is buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California, not far from the cenotaph of his former Ramones' bandmate, Johnny Ramone.
18 Sep 1950 American drummer Michael Hossack who as a member of The Doobie Brothers between 1971 and 1973, playing on several of the band's best-known hits, including 'Listen to the Music' and 'China Grove'. Hossack died of cancer on 12 March 2012 at his home in Dubois, Wyoming at the age of 65.
18 Sep 1946 English guitarist and singer Alan King, best known for his time with the British 1960s pop group The Action and the 1970s rock band Ace, who scored the 1974 UK No.20 single 'How Long'. The song later reached No.3 on the US chart in the spring of 1975.
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18 Sep 1939 American singer, actor and former teen idol Frankie Avalon. He had 31 charting US Billboard singles from 1958 to late 1962, including No.1 hits, 'Venus' in 1959 and 'Why' in 1960. On his twenty-first birthday, Frankie Avalon was given $600,000 (£330,000) that he earned as a minor from his hit records. He had a supporting role in the 1978 musical film Grease, in which he sings the song 'Beauty School Dropout'.
18 Sep 1933 American pop singer Jimmie Rodgers, who had a brief run of mainstream popularity in the 1950s and 1960s with a string of crossover singles, including the 1957 US No.1 single 'Honeycomb'. His biggest hit in the UK was 'English Country Garden', a version of the folk song 'Country Gardens', which reached No.5 in the chart in June 1962. Rodgers died from kidney disease on January 18, 2021, at the age of 87.